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Euclid Schools outlines counseling, mentoring, clinic and resource-center supports for students
Summary
Euclid City Schools presented a coordinated "whole-child" approach to student supports including counselors, social workers, mentors, a family resource center and a high-school wellness clinic; staff reported targeted programs (Thrive, Panther Academy, Panther Assist) and counts for McKinney-Vento and foster-care students.
Euclid City Schools on Monday laid out how counselors, social workers, mentoring specialists and contracted partners work together to support students’ nonacademic needs.
Assistant Superintendent Karen Brown told the school board the district has aligned supports around the state’s whole-child strategic plan to address food insecurity, housing instability, mental-health needs and other barriers to learning. "To us, One Euclid means that we believe that all of our students can be great and we are a part of the village that will get them there," Brown said.
The presentation named roles and staffing: school counselors are universal (every student is assigned a counselor), while psychologists, social workers and mentors serve selected students with disabilities or behavioral and mental-health needs. Mike Minnell, director of school leadership, described mentoring at Euclid High School: two mentor specialists, a coordinator and an Athletic Leadership Academy that has served "over 230 students" in conflict mediation, tutoring and substance-misuse education.
Wellness coordinator Jocelyn Boyd described family liaisons and a family resource manager who operate a donation-funded family resource center with separate clothing and food/household rooms. "Families are able to shop at no cost," Boyd said, and the center uses a QR-code order system for confidential pick-ups. The district partners with the Cleveland Food Bank and local retailers to maintain supplies.
Boyd said the district currently identifies 64 students under the McKinney-Vento protections for students experiencing homelessness and supports 212 students in foster care; of those foster-care students she said 120 have remained in district placement while 83 are placed outside the district. She described a winter coat giveaway that served about 52 families and allowed a family to be linked with an external resource manager for rental assistance.
Brown outlined targeted programs designed to reduce exclusions and support students who need different learning structures. Thrive — a middle-school, small-learning-community program — enrolls roughly 29 students now, with another 15 recommended to begin next semester. Panther Academy is a self-paced program for credit-deficient or chronically absent students; Panther Assist is a short-term option for students out for medical reasons or in need of tier-3 interventions, with 20 students currently enrolled.
The presentation also covered crisis and threat-assessment teams, citing Ohio law and the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) as the protocol the district uses to evaluate and respond to potential threats. Brown said the district’s crisis model pairs immediate building-level supports with continued family outreach and, when needed, outside grief-support partners.
Board members praised the comprehensive approach and asked for a readable copy of the packet. Brown said the district will follow up with requested details — for example, whether Panther Academy students participate in extracurricular athletics — after checking schedules and participation records.
